A Promise
by Colhan3000
Summary: When Luffy was fifteen Makino made a promise with him. It would seem silly to anyone else, but to her it was a way to continue encouraging him in his goals. Even if he wasn't there to see the promise fulfilled.


Hmmm….I'm defiantly feeling writers block, and right when I have time to write.

_**I don't own One Piece or anything related to this Anime or the Manga.**_

_8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888_

**A Promise**

Makino stood before a table that sat near the entrance of her bar. On it stood a framed picture of a muscular black haired man who looked no older then twenty years old. In her hands she held yet another framed picture; this one holding the picture of a younger boy who was seventeen years old who was giving the camera one of his big silly grins as he waved at the camera. She didn't have to guess at these two who were in the photos. She didn't have to guess their personalities, she didn't have to guess why they became wanted people, she didn't need to guess how they would act towards her if she happened to run into them in some alleyway.

She knew both of these men personally since she had been their guardian after their grandfather gave them up after he was called to his duty as a Marine and their father was nowhere to be heard of. The older one was Portgas D. Ace and the younger one was Ace's younger brother Monkey D. Luffy. Ace had left to become a pirate three years before Luffy had left to do the same, but with an added goal of becoming Pirate King like he had told his idol, Red Haired Shanks, he would do ten years ago when he was seven years old... with the straw hat in hand that they had made that promise on.

Now Makino was keeping a promise to the youngest of the D Brothers. It was a promise made when Luffy was Fifteen years old and it had been a year since Ace had left.

"_MAKINO!!!"_ _Makino turned from washing glasses to see fifteen year old Luffy running into the bar with a piece of paper clutched in his hand. He was wearing a blue shirt and denim shorts; he was wearing the usual sandals on his feet and the straw hat he had gotten from Shanks was resting on his messy black hair that was over due for a trim._

"_What is it Luffy? And what's that in your hand?" Makino said drying off her hands._

"_A bounty poster! A bird dropped it on the docks! Guess who's on it" Luffy said in one long sentence and was tying to catch his breath._

"_Shanks?" Makino guessed, she had never actually seen Shanks's wanted poster in any of the ones that came to the island so she was curious as to what the Marine's would be asking for the man. Luffy shook his head and flashed her a wide grin._

"_Nope! It's Ace!" Luffy said putting the bounty poster on the counter of the bar for Makino to see. Below the word "WANTED" in capital bold print was a picture of a black haired teenaged boy no older the eighteen; his cheeks were dusted with freckles from days of training under the hot sun and was wearing an orange hat and wearing no T-shirt. Below the picture were the words "DEAD OR ALIVE" in the same bold capital print as the word above the picture only a little smaller…and the below that was Ace's full name and the amount that the Marine's were asking for his capture._

"_Ace is a pirate now!" Luffy said grinning wider; truth be told he had probably been a pirate for a while now and most likely had finally caused enough trouble to make the Marine's offer a bounty. _

"_Yes, and we should pick out a nice frame for that and put it up so everyone can see" Makino said walking into the back room of the bar with Luffy following behind._

"_Are you suppose to frame bounty posters?" Luffy asked as Makino looked through some frames she had in a box._

"_Not really…but then again Ace did come from here and he is your brother…it would get torn if we just put it on the wall" Makino said picking out a cherry wood frame with a pattern of olive branches burned into the wood. Luffy handed her his brother's bounty poster and she placed it into the frame; the glass and remainder of the frame keeping it safe from tearing and stains._

"_Yeah! We have to keep it nice!" Luffy said following her back out to the main part of the bar to a table near the door. The table was far enough from the door to avoid it from smashing anything that would be on it. Watching her place his big brothers framed poster on the table he looked up at her, he had grown over the years and was now getting close to her height now. "Makino?"_

"_Hmmm?"_

"_When I leave and get a bounty…will you put it in a nice frame too?" Luffy asked looking at his brother in the picture who was giving whoever was taking the picture a very cocky smirk._

"_Of course! And I'll put it right next to Ace's"_

"_Promise?"_

"_I promise Luffy" Makino said as a bunch of men from the village came running in ready to celebrate Ace's first bounty while the Mayor walked in and looked at the wanted poster in disgust._

Now that old photo had long been replaced with ones that were updated; but the old wanted posters that belonged to Ace were all still in the frame, they had been stacked behind the current one so they would all stay nice and clean. His posters went from being updated due to the wanted man aging to the fact that his bounty had gone up every so often over the years. Makino now had Luffy's poster framed in a wooden frame. She had chosen a frame made with a lighter color then the dark cherry wood of his brother's, it had a pair of seagulls burned into the left corner of the frame. Smiling as she saw the men from the village heading to the bar with every intention to celebrate Luffy's bounty. She placed Luffy's framed poster next to his brother's as she had promised all those years ago and began getting the glasses ready for the crowd heading down the streets.

She would have to pick up some more frames for when Luffy's nakama earned bounties as well

_8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888_


End file.
